Randull Poiron
Randull Poiron is the Court Wizard of Evermore, and a former Oblivion explorer. 'Appearance:' From a distance, Randull might appear as a fairly typical wizard, swathed in robes, old and worn, with a mane of silver hair and thick matching beard. Looking closer, however, the observer would find him quite unique. Even as the old cripple he now is, Randull has a considerable stature and subtle strength, broad shouldered and thick-necked with a heavy brow firm grip. His face is pale, craggy, and wrinkled, but it bears witness to his past occupation. It is decorated with burns and scars, an eye patch covers his left socket while a misted sapphire eye fills his right. As well as his eye, the little finger of his mangled left hand is missing, and so are his legs. Most commonly he sits in an ornate wooden armchair, decorated with copper plates embossed with daedric letters and images of Oblivion. Unlike most chairs, this one is enchanted, hovering a few inches above the ground and giving Randull a degree of mobility, even without his legs. 'Skills:' Unsurprisingly for a court mage, Randull Poiron is a capable wizard. He was once a renowned Oblivion explorer, and he once counted himself one of the most capable conjurers in Tamriel. With his many injuries and his increasing age, his capabilities have been lessened somewhat – it has been years since he physically visited the Daedric Planes. However, he remains a brilliant theoretical mage, and retains considerable capabilities in most schools, his favourites being Conjuration and Mysticism. 'Equipment:' The Red Wizard is so-called thanks to his habit of wearing rich red robes, cloaks and shawls, increasing his considerable size with layers of fabric. In his youth, these robes were supplemented with a fine steel cuirass, which he occasionally wears on appropriate occasions, but of course he does no fighting these days (and sitting down in a cuirass is far from comfortable). Like many wizards, Randull considers it the stuff of conscience to wear as many rings, bracelets and amulets as he can fit on his body, and so his gnarled hands clink when he drums his fingers on his armrests. Aside from his clothes, he rarely carries anything with him, although he possesses a considerable collection of magical tomes and scrolls and assorted curiosities from Oblivion. 'Background:' Randull Poiron, the Red Wizard, the Wanderer, was briefly very famous. Part of a generation of pioneers and heroes that never quite were – the Oblivion explorers. He was born into the venerable knightly family of Poiron, from western Evermore, but as the youngest of five brothers, there was never much hope that he would become a distinguished knight. Fortunately for the young Randull, he had a singular talent for magic. “Attuned”, the local guildmages had called him. His father was unsure, but at the boy’s pleading, sent him to seek his fame with the Mages’ Guild, where he excelled as a Conjurer. Around that time, the school was becoming more and more practical, with many eminent mages following in the footsteps of the likes of Morian Zenas and seeing Oblivion for themselves. With his knightly ancestry, it seemed only natural that Randull should do the same. It was in these adventurers that he made a name for himself, and really excelled as a mage. They were not without incident, of course. His first major injury was the loss of his little finger; his hand was savaged by a clannfear, but only the finger proved beyond saving. A few scars and many trips later, it was his eye. He lost it in a tangle with a Golden Saint in Sheogorath’s Madhouse (an ill-advised expedition, it was agreed). He jokes that he left it behind to keep an eye on the madgod, but he might be more truthful than he intends, occasionally seeing disturbing things through the absent eye. The final and greatest wound came in the Oblivion Crisis of 3E 433. Given his reputation, it was a given that the now middle-aged Randull would lend his talents to the fight against Dagon’s hordes, and he proved himself quite capable. However, for all his experience of Oblivion exploration, nothing had prepared him for the chaos of the Oblivion Gates, and on one unfortunate sortie, he found himself battling daedra as the gate’s world began to collapse around him. To the sound of clashing steel and magical explosions, Randull the Wanderer was knocked to the floor beneath a block of rubble. His legs were crushed to a pulp, and when he escaped Dagon’s plane, he found them completely absent. Without his legs, Oblivion exploration became impracticably dangerous for Randull. He could not even perform all of the rituals. His reputation as a mage, however, survived amongst those in the know, and when he returned home, broken physically but not mentally, he was able to secure a position in the court of King Titus of Evermore. 'Character Summary:' Randull is an old man now, who has seen much hardship and faces more each day. He has outlived each of his older brothers (one in the Oblivion Crisis, two to old age, one in a jousting accident) and several of his nephews, but nonetheless, retains his humour. For him, old age, and to a lesser extent his disability, is simply another tool for humour and cheer – a licence to sarcastically berate his nephews and say odd things to important people. Some say the eye he left in Sheogorath’s realm belongs back in his head, so surprised they are to hear humour and light-heartedness from such a grim-faced man. He typically has little time for politics – his place in the castle is a mage, he says, and only a mage. Some courtiers joke that the kingdom could vanish from under him and he wouldn’t look up from his books. That said, a knight’s son never really outgrows his fondness for pageantry and tradition, and Randull takes great delight in jousting, sparring, falconry, anything where banners wave and knight’s strut. One thing that is likely to draw him from his study is a good parade, although of course his days as a participant are long gone. Category:Evermore Category:Characters